CSS grid - maximum number of columns without media queries

Question

Is it possible to define a grid with a maximum number of columns, but allow elements to wrap onto new rows when the screen width changes?

I have implemented classes that allow rows to wrap onto new rows, but there is no maximum number of columns.

Here is a CodePen of one method using Flexbox:

CSS:

.flex-container {
  display: flex;
  flex-wrap: wrap;
}

Another method is to use a grid:

.grid {
  display: grid;
  counter-reset: grid-items;
  position: relative;
}


.grid--auto-fit {
  grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fit, minmax(200px, 1fr));
}

I want a fairly generic solution to this. Is what I want to achieve possible without JavaScript or media queries?

Sobriety

have you tried : grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fit, minmax(25%, 1fr)); for a four columns max ? or 12.5% for eight an so on ? – Fermentation

Not sure why the closure was the other way originally. The target is older, has more score, and more views, so I reversed the duplicate ordering here. Of course, if this one were to be about how to do it only via flexbox instead of grid, then it wouldn't be a dupe of the target anymore (though there's probably a flexbox canonical as well). – Gargle

@Gargle both questions are asking without media query and only my answer is giving a no-media query solution so the order of duplicate was good. Plus my answer is covering many method so it's the canonical one. And I am using CSS grid and flexbox (the CSS grid is the first solution) – Aesthetics

@Gargle about the views, this one will soon have more because it's a canonical I use a lot and the votes are very close. Only +2 of a difference – Aesthetics

@TemaniAfif The only way the canonical will get more views than another is if the other is closed as a duplicate of this one, redirecting users here... which it is not anymore. As for media queries, the top solution on the other also does not use them for the actual question/solution, but just in an augmentative way (and the second answer doesn't mention them at all). By reopening this, you've now made sure that neither one points to the other... which is not good. – Gargle

@Gargle the other solution does use media query. I also commented on it. It cannot work without media query. Mine is no-media query. Btw, you can still close the other and this one will get more views because I already used it in many questions. Compare both "linked tab". This one has 14 and the other only 6. This one will keep growing – Aesthetics

@Gargle the second answer that doesn't use media query is simply wrong btw. Adding max-width is not a valid way to solve the problem – Aesthetics

Answer 1

With CSS grid you can consider the use of max(width, 100%/N) where N is the maximum number of columns. If the width of the container increases, 100%/N will for sure be bigger than width, thus we won't have more than N elements per row.

.grid-container {
  --n: 4; /* The maximum number of columns */
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fill, minmax(max(200px, 100%/var(--n)), 1fr));
}

.grid-item {
  background: tomato;
  padding: 5px;
  height: 50px;
  margin: 10px;

  line-height: 50px;
  color: white;
  font-weight: bold;
  font-size: 2em;
  text-align: center;
  box-sizing: border-box;
}

<div class="grid-container">
  <div class="grid-item">1</div>
  <div class="grid-item">2</div>
  <div class="grid-item">3</div>
  <div class="grid-item">4</div>
  <div class="grid-item">5</div>
  <div class="grid-item">6</div>
  <div class="grid-item">7</div>
  <div class="grid-item">8</div>
</div>

<div class="grid-container" style="--n:3">
  <div class="grid-item">1</div>
  <div class="grid-item">2</div>
  <div class="grid-item">3</div>
  <div class="grid-item">4</div>
  <div class="grid-item">5</div>
  <div class="grid-item">6</div>
  <div class="grid-item">7</div>
  <div class="grid-item">8</div>
</div>

With gaps:

.grid-container {
  --n: 4; /* The maximum number of columns */
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fill,
           minmax(max(200px,(100% - (var(--n) - 1)*10px)/var(--n)), 1fr));
  gap: 10px;
  margin: 5px;
}

.grid-item {
  background: tomato;
  padding: 5px;
  height: 50px;

  line-height: 50px;
  color: white;
  font-weight: bold;
  font-size: 2em;
  text-align: center;
  box-sizing: border-box;
}

<div class="grid-container">
  <div class="grid-item">1</div>
  <div class="grid-item">2</div>
  <div class="grid-item">3</div>
  <div class="grid-item">4</div>
  <div class="grid-item">5</div>
  <div class="grid-item">6</div>
  <div class="grid-item">7</div>
  <div class="grid-item">8</div>
</div>

<div class="grid-container" style="--n:3">
  <div class="grid-item">1</div>
  <div class="grid-item">2</div>
  <div class="grid-item">3</div>
  <div class="grid-item">4</div>
  <div class="grid-item">5</div>
  <div class="grid-item">6</div>
  <div class="grid-item">7</div>
  <div class="grid-item">8</div>
</div>

---

With flexbox, you can simply set a max-width to the container since your elements have a fixed width:

.flex-container {
  display: flex;
  flex-wrap: wrap;
  max-width: calc(5*(200px + 20px));
}

.flex-item {
  background: tomato;
  padding: 5px;
  width: 200px;
  height: 100px;
  margin: 10px;

  line-height: 100px;
  color: white;
  font-weight: bold;
  font-size: 2em;
  text-align: center;
  box-sizing: border-box;
}

<div class="flex-container wrap">
  <div class="flex-item">1</div>
  <div class="flex-item">2</div>
  <div class="flex-item">3</div>
  <div class="flex-item">4</div>
  <div class="flex-item">5</div>
  <div class="flex-item">6</div>
  <div class="flex-item">7</div>
  <div class="flex-item">8</div>
</div>

The only drawback is that you need to know the width of your elements and their margin to correctly set the max-width.

If you want your elements to expand and cover all the width, you can use a trick with min-width like below:

.flex-container {
  display: flex;
  flex-wrap: wrap;
}

.flex-item {
  background: tomato;
  padding: 5px;
  min-width: 200px;
  width: calc(100%/5 - 20px); /* 5 columns */
  height: 100px;
  margin: 10px;

  line-height: 100px;
  color: white;
  font-weight: bold;
  font-size: 2em;
  text-align: center;
  box-sizing: border-box;
}

<div class="flex-container wrap">
  <div class="flex-item">1</div>
  <div class="flex-item">2</div>
  <div class="flex-item">3</div>
  <div class="flex-item">4</div>
  <div class="flex-item">5</div>
  <div class="flex-item">6</div>
  <div class="flex-item">7</div>
  <div class="flex-item">8</div>
</div>

Here also you need to consider the margin. You can easily make this more flexible using CSS variables:

.flex-container {
  display: flex;
  flex-wrap: wrap;
}

.flex-item {
  --m: 10px;
  background: tomato;
  padding: 5px;
  min-width: 200px;
  width: calc(100%/5 - 2*var(--m)); /* 5 columns */
  height: 100px;
  margin: var(--m);

  line-height: 100px;
  color: white;
  font-weight: bold;
  font-size: 2em;
  text-align: center;
  box-sizing: border-box;
}

<div class="flex-container wrap">
  <div class="flex-item">1</div>
  <div class="flex-item">2</div>
  <div class="flex-item">3</div>
  <div class="flex-item">4</div>
  <div class="flex-item">5</div>
  <div class="flex-item">6</div>
  <div class="flex-item">7</div>
  <div class="flex-item">8</div>
</div>

You can also consider flex-grow if you want your element to always expand (even when there is a wrap), but you may face the issue of the last row that you need to fix with some hacks:

.flex-container {
  display: flex;
  flex-wrap: wrap;
  --m: 10px;
}

.flex-item {
  background: tomato;
  padding: 5px;
  min-width: 200px;
  flex-grow: 1;
  width: calc(100%/5 - 2*var(--m)); /* 5 columns */
  height: 100px;
  margin: var(--m);

  line-height: 100px;
  color: white;
  font-weight: bold;
  font-size: 2em;
  text-align: center;
  box-sizing: border-box;
}

.flex-container span {
  min-width: 200px;
  flex-grow: 1;
  width: calc(100%/5 - 2*var(--m)); /* 5 columns */
  margin: 0 var(--m);
}

<div class="flex-container wrap">
  <div class="flex-item">1</div>
  <div class="flex-item">2</div>
  <div class="flex-item">3</div>
  <div class="flex-item">4</div>
  <div class="flex-item">5</div>
  <div class="flex-item">6</div>
  <div class="flex-item">7</div>
  <div class="flex-item">8</div>

  <!-- 4 empty elements to fix the issue (we can also use a pseudo element) -->
  <span></span>
  <span></span>
  <span></span>
  <span></span>
</div>

In the example below, we made the number of columns to be 5 so we will need at least 4 empty elements to fix the issue in case we will have one to 4 elements in the last row.

Of course, this is a drawback, but since you know the number of columns you can easily set those empty elements and you won't need any JavaScript.

To make it more flexible, here is an idea with CSS variables:

.flex-container {
  display: flex;
  flex-wrap: wrap;
  border: 1px solid;
  --m: 10px;
  --n: 5;
  --width: 150px;
}

.flex-item {
  background: tomato;
  min-width: var(--width);
  flex-grow: 1;
  width: calc(100%/var(--n) - 2*var(--m));
  height: 50px;
  margin: var(--m);

  box-sizing: border-box;
}

.flex-container span {
  display: contents; /* Each span will give us 2 elements */
}
.flex-container span: before,
.flex-container span: after,
.flex-container: before,
.flex-container: after{
  content: "";
  min-width: var(--width);
  flex-grow: 1;
  width: calc(100%/var(--n) - 2*var(--m));
  margin :0 var(--m);
  order: 1; /* We make sure they are at the end */
}

<div class="flex-container wrap">
  <div class="flex-item">1</div>
  <div class="flex-item">2</div>
  <div class="flex-item">3</div>
  <div class="flex-item">4</div>
  <div class="flex-item">5</div>
  <div class="flex-item">6</div>
  <div class="flex-item">7</div>
  <div class="flex-item">8</div>

  <!-- A lot of elements !! -->
  <span></span>
  <span></span>
  <span></span>
  <span></span>
  <span></span>
  <span></span>
  <span></span>
</div>

<div class="flex-container wrap" style="--n:10">
  <div class="flex-item">1</div>
  <div class="flex-item">2</div>
  <div class="flex-item">3</div>
  <div class="flex-item">4</div>
  <div class="flex-item">5</div>
  <div class="flex-item">6</div>
  <div class="flex-item">7</div>
  <div class="flex-item">8</div>

  <!-- A lot of elements !! -->
  <span></span>
  <span></span>
  <span></span>
  <span></span>
  <span></span>
  <span></span>
  <span></span>
</div>

<div class="flex-container wrap" style="--n:3">
  <div class="flex-item">1</div>
  <div class="flex-item">2</div>
  <div class="flex-item">3</div>
  <div class="flex-item">4</div>
  <div class="flex-item">5</div>
  <div class="flex-item">6</div>
  <div class="flex-item">7</div>
  <div class="flex-item">8</div>

  <!-- A lot of elements !! -->
  <span></span>
  <span></span>
  <span></span>
  <span></span>
  <span></span>
  <span></span>
  <span></span>
</div>

I used display: contents to be able to set N empty elements that will later be considered as 2*N which can reduce the code.

If you will have 7 columns, we will only need 6 extra elements. We can use the two pseudo elements then only 2 empty element to cover the remaining 4.

Aesthetics

Answer 2

With a little bit of math, you can add a percentage in a maximum function within the minmax. That way, it will break at 200 pixels, but expand to fill 1/3 of the page (in this case because I used 33%. Just add whatever percentage you want there though).

grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fit, minmax(max(200px, 33%), 1fr));

Cagey

this is what I already said in my answer, why repeating? – Aesthetics